Giant Felt Shape Pictures

I found a huge, felt-backed board that was part of a Bible visual aid set and got it out for the girls to make some shape pictures and patterns on. I cut out some simple shapes of varying sizes from felt sheets (I got a pack of 100 from eBay for about £8 a little while ago), as well as some numbers and irregular shapes too.

C set about putting all of the shapes on and talked about them as she did so using comparative and descriptive language. “This is a BIG one!” “Put the little one there” “One circle, two circles” “All the yellow ones go over here” etc.

I also made a simple tree shape and some leaves and she loved putting themm all at the end of each branch. She then added some little red circles to make “apples.”

Baby thought the whole thing was wonderful and came along to see how much she could pull off in 30 seconds flat! It took her a few minutes to work out she could stick things on again, and when she did she had a whale of a time. On, off, on, off, on, off- perfect baby activity!

We kept it out all day and they kept coming back to add things and (in baby’s case particularly!) take them off again.

C loved playing with the irregular shapes and thought up little stories to go with her arrangements. There were some glimpses of early story telling and it was wonderful. “Here is the sea and the sun goes there and the boat is on it and the kite in the sky.” Love.

This is one of the few things they have both become absorbed with and played at really well side by side as both were able to interact with it at their own level. I’m looking forward to more days like these!

“I’ll just take all these leaves off one by one when she’s not looking!”

Here are a few of my favourite combinations that she put together.

I definitely spy some symmetry here!

These numbers in the correct order are a happy coincidence, but it opens up the possibilities of what the felt can be used for. Brain is ticking for future ideas!

And the next morning, they headed straight for the felt pictures again!

And C came up with this little symmetrical beauty all by herself. I’m constantly amazed at the human brain!

This activity is good for:* developing an awareness of space and shapes* begin to use shape names* use comparative language of big/bigger, small/ smaller* hand to eye coordination and fine motor skills* creative development: building pictures with shapes* cognitive development* developing talk and early story telling/ narrative

Your girls look like they’re having so much fun:-) What a fab felt board! We have some homemade felt shapes too, Minnie loves playing with them & uses the back of our sofa as her felt board!! The sofa fabric is great for holding the felt, & Minnie’s creations can stay in place for as long as she likes without them having to be moved

I am a new follower and I love visiting your blog for inspiration. I have been considering making a felt board for a while but wasn’t sure if my daughter who is 14 months would get much out of it. Seeing how much fun baby had has convinced me to add this to my project list for sure! Thanks for the great ideas!

Hi Jessica- thank you and welcome! I hope your little 14 month old enjoys it- I’m sure she will. The great thing about it for babies is that it isn’t messy or toxic! Woo hoo to clean and safe toys that are a bit different

I love it! I have made tons of flannel stories, but my kids just never got into them. I never tried just shapes, so they could create designs. Looks like I can pull out the flannel board for one more try!

What a great idea! I can’t believe how large that felt board is! I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 14 month old so I understand the joy you feel when they can play together… and for an extended period of time at that. I may have to try and figure this one out!